A North Avenue storm drain collapse could take months to repair. Owners of demolished Baltimore rowhouses face even more uncertainty.

The first sign of trouble came soon after floodwaters from a heavy summer rainstorm had receded. A neighbor alerted Quentin Bell the night of July 2 that a section of sidewalk in front of his East North Avenue rowhouse had collapsed, exposing the home’s foundation. An orange cone warned passersby, but the woman said she nearly fell in as she chatted on the phone. Faucets ran dry inside Bell’s home the next day. By then, as the hole slowly widened, it was blocked off by long, white Baltimore Department of Transportation signs. Bell called 311; an operator told him there was no record of any work being done on his block, along the north side of Greenmount Cemetery, and that an inspector would be sent out days later.